Carice van Houten

Birthday: 5 September 1976, Leiderdorp, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Birth Name: Carice Anouk van Houten

Height: 165 cm

One of Europe's most celebrated actresses, Carice van Houten is perhaps best known for her lead roles in Paul Verhoeven's award-winning Black Book, Bryan Singer's Valkyrie opposite Tom Cruise and Game of Thrones.Her Dutch-language feature Love Life, gained her further critical acclaim and broke box office records in her native Holland. Her next film Happy Housewive won her a record breaking 5th Golden Calf at The Netherlands Film Festival and was voted 'Best Dutch Actress of All Time' by the Dutch audience. Other awards include Best Actress for Black Butterflies at the Tribeca Film Festival. Recent credits include Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Intruders and Bill Condon's The Fifth Estate, the Jesse Owens biopic, Race, with Jason Sudekis and Jeremy Irons and voiced a character in The Simpsons. She can next be seen in Brimstone, opposite Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce and Kit Harrington, and will be reprising her role in HBO's hit series, Game of Thrones as the Priestess, Lady Melisandre. Show less «

[on the 'Game of Thrones' genre] It has made me more open to fantasy. It's so much richer than I tho...Show more »

[on the 'Game of Thrones' genre] It has made me more open to fantasy. It's so much richer than I thought it would be. You can easily write it off as Disney for grownups, but it's great that this comes from someone's brain, and tickles your imagination. I can see now why the geeks have been geeky about it. Show less «

If you are not in America fast enough, it must have failed. When there is another thing like, maybe ...Show more »

If you are not in America fast enough, it must have failed. When there is another thing like, maybe I don't want to go to America. I mean, it's not SO great there anyway... Show less «

To me, that's not the most difficult thing. To transform. I don't really see it happen. I don't have...Show more »

To me, that's not the most difficult thing. To transform. I don't really see it happen. I don't have the feeling I am transforming, really. I don't believe you can get into somebody's character but more that somebody comes in you. You just use yourself. In everything I play, I feel like it is me. I just say different things on different times and look different. Show less «

On what foreign press wants to know: I think they're all waiting for a crazy story about Paul (Verho...Show more »

On what foreign press wants to know: I think they're all waiting for a crazy story about Paul (Verhoeven), that he exploded once or something, but I keep telling them he's a sweet man so I keep letting them down. And what it's like to be naked on a set. They all think that's very exciting. I just answer that in Holland, it's weird not to be naked on a set so we're all used to it. Show less «

[on the chance that her character in 'Game of Thrones' might die] It's sad if you get killed off, bu...Show more »

[on the chance that her character in 'Game of Thrones' might die] It's sad if you get killed off, but it's also the fun part. It's like roulette. It's easier for me to say this because I have magical powers, which make it harder for the writers to kill me off. But I have a feeling that I won't get away with anything. Show less «

I don't do method acting. If I play a farmer I'm not gonna spend 3 weeks on a chicken farm. That's a...Show more »

I don't do method acting. If I play a farmer I'm not gonna spend 3 weeks on a chicken farm. That's a bit too much for me. For Minoes (in which she played a cat in a woman's body) I didn't spend 3 weeks in a cat pound. Show less «

[on her career, 2014] I'm not as keen on playing in the American big leagues. There's so much more t...Show more »

[on her career, 2014] I'm not as keen on playing in the American big leagues. There's so much more to my life than being in a big American movie. I'm a singer and working on my second album. I write and produce. There is so much more that satisfies me. I will never become an American movie star. I'm a European actress that is lucky to be in a show like ['Game of Thrones']. Show less «

I do this acing thing mostly for myself. I like to make a connection and communicate with the audien...Show more »

I do this acing thing mostly for myself. I like to make a connection and communicate with the audience to make myself feel less lonely. Show less «

[on portraying Melisandre in 'Game of Thrones'] Playing evil is just not interesting. I don't think ...Show more »

[on portraying Melisandre in 'Game of Thrones'] Playing evil is just not interesting. I don't think anyone who does evil stuff thinks they're doing evil stuff. That's the scary part. The people who do things we despise or don't understand - they think they're doing a good thing, which is so scary. I think that is the only way for me to play her, because otherwise I'm fighting with her. Show less «

There is a saying that doesn't translate well, but it goes something like 'act normal because you ar...Show more »

There is a saying that doesn't translate well, but it goes something like 'act normal because you are crazy enough'. Show less «

In The Netherlands you know who the good and the bad are if I have to say it so black and white. You...Show more »

In The Netherlands you know who the good and the bad are if I have to say it so black and white. You can orientate yourself better in your own country. Here everything is overwhelming. It is very difficult to know who to trust here. Show less «

[About her scenes being cut from Body of Lies (2008)] It sounds much more pitiful than it is. To be ...Show more »

[About her scenes being cut from Body of Lies (2008)] It sounds much more pitiful than it is. To be honest, I was wondering several times on set what my character was actually adding to the story. Show less «

Carice van Houten

Carice van Houten's FILMOGRAPHY

Carice van Houten'S roles

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